Facebook v. Duguid
United States Supreme Court
141 S. Ct. 1163 (2021)
- Written by Sara Adams, JD
Facts
Noah Duguid (plaintiff) filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Facebook (defendant) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the TCPA), which sought to reduce unwanted contact from telemarketers. The TCPA restricted calls made using an autodialer. An autodialer was defined in the TCPA as equipment capable of “stor[ing] or produc[ing] telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator.” Facebook argued that both “store” and “produce” were modified by the phrase “using a random or sequential number generator.” Duguid argued that the phrase only modified the second verb, “produce,” and therefore the statute could be violated if numbers were stored even if they were not stored using a random- or sequential-number generator. The equipment used by Facebook did not store or produce numbers using a random- or sequential-number generator, although it did generally store phone numbers. Facebook filed a motion to dismiss the claims, which the district court granted. Duguid appealed, and the court of appeals reversed the district court’s dismissal. Facebook petitioned for, and was granted, a writ of certiorari by the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sotomayor, J.)
Concurrence (Alito, J.)
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